Copolymerization of N-p-Chlorophenylmaleinlide with Vinyl Acetate: Evaluation of the Energy of Activation and Monomer Reactivity Ratios.

The copolymers (CPVAc) with various proportions of N-p-chloromalemide (CMI) and vinyl acetate were prepared by free radical polymerization in tetrahydrofuran (THF) using 2,2 -azo-bis-isobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator at 70±2°C. The series of copolymers (CPAVc1-CPAVc9) were characterized by FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopic methods. Solubility and viscosity parameters were studied for all the nine copolymers. The viscosity data were used to evaluated Huggins (KH), Kraemer (KK), Schulz-Blaschke (KSB), and Martin (KM) constants. Their energy of activation was calculated from thermogravimetric analyses of the copolymers using Broido s method and copolymer compositions were established by elemental analysis. The copolymer chains were comprised of the first monomer M1(CMI) and the second monomer M2(VAc). Units were distributed in a particular sequence for a definite chain length which was dependent on the feed composition of each monomer. The reactivity ratios of copolymerization were computed by using Finnmen-Ross and Kelen-Tudos methods and were found to be r1 =1.177 and r2 =0.419.